Cheney revising nuisance code

Cheney resident Judy Trigg is worried about her neighborhood. Some of the houses have weeds growing wild and there are abandoned cars here and there.

“It’s getting uglier and uglier and it’s starting to get embarrassing,” she said.

Trigg knows her neighbors have made complaints about the problems, and she hopes to see change in her neighborhood that she said used to be the place to live until about five years ago.

Never one to have been involved in her community before, the condition of her neighborhood prompted her to attend an open house held by the Community Development department last week.

The department is looking to revise, amend and expand its nuisance code and was looking for input from residents. Brian Jennings, community development director, and Jeff Smick, deputy code enforcement officer, were at the open house to answer questions and talk about residents’ concerns.

“We are defining what nuisances are and streamlining the enforcement process,” Jennings said. The department is also starting to track the complaints to see if it can spot trends in violations.

Changes to the code will include holding property owners and residents liable for violations of the nuisance code, reducing timelines to correct problems, and setting penalties for those who don’t comply. Violators could be fined $250 a day for the first violation, $500 a day for the second violation and $1,000 a day for the third violation. The total civil penalty shall not exceed $5,000.

Jennings said the department hopes to introduce the new nuisance code to the City Council this month, but he also wants to make sure they have covered everything in the proposed code.

“We want to give the public a chance to weigh in before we go to council,” Jennings said.

Smick said that depending on the time of year, the kinds of complaints he receives will vary. During summer months he hears about overgrown yards. In June, the problem seems to be abandoned furniture from folks moving out of town.

“Right now, it’s garbage,” Smick said.

Smick also said that in the past, the code enforcement department could only respond to complaints. Now, if Smick is driving through town and notices a problem, he can stop and issue a warning.

He added that yard conditions are subjective. For one person, a yard could look just fine while the neighbor lodges complaints about the other’s overgrown yard.

The nuisance code doesn’t deal with noisy neighbors or loud parties or traffic coming through a neighborhood. To help residents know whom to call with a problem, Jennings and Smick provided a list of resources for specific problems.

If someone has too many animals living in a house, a complainant would call the police department. If someone lives next to a vacant building with problems, it’s code enforcement.

“Well, I try to be kind of active in the community,” said resident Bonnie Eccles. She said the city has had a lot of changes in the way it’s governed over the past couple of years and she appreciates being able to voice her concerns.

In her neighborhood, she has noticed that there are a lot of shrubs on corners of city blocks that drivers can’t see around. She said she has a tree in her front yard that she makes an effort to maintain to protect walkers and joggers going by. She hopes everyone can maintain their yards, too.

Jennings said residents can make complaints by filling out an online form. It requires the name of the person making the complaint, but that name will only be released if the case goes to court.

Complaints are prioritized, with life, safety, health and sanitation issues being the main concern of code enforcement.

Residents can also print out the form, complete it and mail it back to the Community Development Department.

“We need ordinances that are much more strict,” Trigg said.